books_around_the_corner's reviews
1114 reviews

A harmless game turned into a nightmare that would haunt a group of friends for years to come. The Chalk Man, written by C.J. Tudor, doesn’t just provide a grim tale of murder but also a very real look at friendships, death, and family over the course of a lifetime. The story alternates between the 1980’s and the present. Tudor is able to provide a dual thriller as I wanted to know what would happen next in both the past and present of these two timelines of the story.

The Chalk Man is for fans of It and Stand By Me. Tudor definitely brought back the use of cliffhangers in a quality over quantity way. It doesn’t have a truly shocking ending but rather an incredibly unsettling and complex one. It was so creepy I was almost relieved it was over and I could start a new book which is saying a lot for my messed up fascination with murder and dismemberment. Readers will think everything has been uncovered but The Chalk Man is a story that is not fully uncovered until the last page. You’ll never look at chalk the same.

3.5 stars. I loved the premise but thought it could have been executed better. Last 20 pages or so were phenomenal, terrifying, and fast paced.